A petition in Bombay High Court (HC) has sought a special investigation team (SIT) to probe an alleged illegal sale of a 28,010.43-sq-m land allotted to CEAT Limited in Bhandup.

Petitioner A A P Jahagirdar,a former employee of CEAT Tyres Limited and a former union member,has alleged the company fraudulently sold the land in collusion with state excise and Thane guardian minister Ganesh Naik,former labour commissioner B D Sanap and director general of the anti-corruption bureau Raj Khilnani.

Jahagirdar claims of the 1,24,024 sq m of land the state government acquired for the company,28,010.43 sq m were fraudulently sold to Ashford Infotech Limited.

The petition filed through lawyer Ashish Mehta names home minister R R Patil,DGP Sanjeev Dayal,Mumbai commissioner of police Satyapal Singh,officers of Bhandup police station and CEAT top brass as respondents.

In his complaint filed in January before a magistrate,Jahagirdar said he was suspended from CEAT for allegedly exposing enormous corruption. He said in 1958 and January 1969,there was an agreement between the state government and the company that the state would acquire land in Bhandup village and hand it over to the company to set up a factory. In 1958,the acquisition began. The state paid about Rs 15 lakh for the land acquired.

The complainant claimed CEAT,however,was not interested in business in Bhandup-Mulund and wanted to wind up the plant there. He alleged Naik issued an NOC for sale of the land without authority. The power to grant change in use of the land was with the revenue and urban development department,Jahagirdar contended.

On March 4,a magistrate ordered an inquiry under CrPC section 156 (3).

Jahagirdar,however,claimed there was no progress in the investigation. He also expressed the fear that Bhandup police may be partial in the probe.